Cultural Dessert

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Bella Hardy

26 March 2008

The young folk singer, Bella Hardy, from Edale in Derbyshire was recently nominated for a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award and provided harmony vocals on the excellent debut album by Ruth Notman (reviewed here in February 2008). Last week we took the opportunity to see Bella perform in the newly refurbished bar at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple. The unusual surroundings ("like performing in Ikea") and small audience (18 people) made for an intimate gig. Bella was accompanied on the Anglo concertina by Chrs Sherburn and Chris's experience and laid-back comic personality made for plenty of gentle banter - an entertaining double act. Bella has a beautiful and impressive voice. She sings traditional English folk songs that tell a story - mostly grim tales, even when the music is uplifting. I would have welcomed a little more variety of style - it would have been good to hear her voice in a more modern idiom occasionally - but it was a lovely evening and I've been enjoying her CD 'Night Visiting'.

'In the Valley of Elah'

26 March 2008

Last Monday we were at the delightful little cinema in Lynton, North Devon, to see 'In the Valley of Elah' - a film with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron about American soldiers returning from Iraq. Although dealing with an extremely grim subject this was a clever and enjoyable film which repeatedly avoided the many traps it could easily have fallen into. Most of the horrors are recounted rather than shown and I think the message is more powerful for it.

Exmoor

26 March 2008

We had a lovely week at Brendon on Exmoor, exploring the moor, coast and valleys of North Devon (and parts of Somerset). We did lots of walking and had plenty of cream teas. The countryside is very pretty, varied and (during March at least) extremely quiet. We particularly enjoyed the coastal path near Woody Bay and the beautiful Doone Valley - though we discovered the dangers of assuming that 'bridlepath' is the same thing as 'footpath' when our route pointed straight across a busy river! (Not having a horse with us we enjoyed a lengthy and fruitless search for a footbridge followed by a rather adventurous crossing!) We were lucky with the weather which was cold but mostly clear and sunny - having avoided the storms of the previous week and the snow that followed our return. A relaxing break.

'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' by Gregory Maguire

26 March 2008

Some time in 2001 I heard someone on the radio talking about a novel that was going to tell the story of the childhood of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Even though the book had not yet been published in the UK, I was hooked by the concept. During a trip to Seattle in 2002 I bought a copy of 'Wicked' by Gregory Maguire at the wonderful Elliot Bay Book Company store and I loved it. It has since become a bestseller and spawned a Broadway musical. So it was with some expectation that I started reading Gregory Maguire's 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' which attempts a similar trick with the Cinderella story. 'Wicked' is a strange and peculiar book which travels into the realms of magical realism: 'Confessions' is less ambitious - more a straightforward historical novel - and better for it. Both take the 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' approach - showing you familiar events from the point of view of previously minor characters. But I thought 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' had more in common with those other Tom Stoppard plays (such as 'Travesties' and 'The Invention of Love') where the more familiar story that the characters inhabit only gradually reveals itself. By the time 'Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' resolves itself into the events around Cinderella's appearance at the ball it is almost a surprise. It's a very neat and satisfying story and has a lot to say about appearances and transformations.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Eilís Kennedy and Pauline Scanlon

13 March 2008

Spellbinding session from the beautiful west of Ireland voices of Eilís Kennedy and Pauline Scanlon on Charlie Gillett's Radio 3 show this week. You can listen again here and hear the first few tracks from their forthcoming album at: http://www.myspace.com/dinglewhitefemales.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Milton Keynes City Orchestra concert

12 March 2008

On Sunday night we were at Milton Keynes Theatre to hear the Milton Keynes City Orchestra conducted by Sian Edwards. The first half of the concert was a performance of Beethoven's 'Triple Concerto' with Diana Cummings (violin), Nigel Clayton (piano) and the wonderful show-stealing Oleg Kogan ('cello) who was a late replacement for the injured Gerard Le Feuvre. After the interval the MKCO were joined by the Milton Keynes Music Service Symphony Orchestra for a joint performance of the overture 'The Italian Girl in Algiers' by Rossini. With nearly 100 players on the stage it looked and sounded amazing: the playing was incredibly tight and precise and my only disappointment was that (with one notable exception) all the woodwind solos were taken by the professional players rather than the local youngsters. Before they completed the concert with Haydn's 'Symphony No. 103 - Drum Roll', I was pleased to see MKCO take on something a little out of the ordinary with the strange, atmospheric 'Nostalgia' by Takemitsu - a tribute to the Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

10 March 2008

Saturday's Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert was an exciting but exhausting challenge for those of playing in it. We started with the 'Symphonic Dances from West Side Story' by Leonard Bernstein - an incredibly difficult piece. While it might not have been perfect, I thought our performance was an impressive achievement with many of the complex rhythmic challenges mastered and some stunning passages. The orchestra then accompanied the excellent David Le Page in the Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber - one of my favourite works. We finished with Tchaikowsky's 'Symphony No. 6 - Pathetique' - both emotionally and physically draining but well worth the effort. There is nothing quite like the moment where the euphoria of the triumphant conclusion of the rousing third movment march is shattered by the devastating onslaught of the heart-wrenching final movement (particularly when the marathon third movement has left you feeling like you'll never be able to play another note!).

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

'Rafta, Rafta ...' by Ayub Khan-Din

4 March 2008

I very much enjoyed the National Theatre production of 'Rafta, Rafta ...' by Ayub Khan-Din which we saw at Milton Keynes Theatre last Saturday. It was based on the 1953 play 'All in Good Time' by Bill Naughton (which was filmed as 'The Family Way' with Hywel Bennett and John Mills) but updated to focus on an Indian family in modern day Bolton. A young couple, unable to afford their own home, start their married life sharing the groom's parents' small terraced house. The original plot worked remarkably well in its new setting - some things don't change that much and have a kind of universality across cultures! Michael Coveney, writing in the programme, suggested that Naughton sits on a line of popular playwriting from the likes of Harold Brighouse to Alan Bennett and Alan Ayckbourn. There are clear echoes of 'Hobson's Choice' here and 'Rafta, Rafta ...' definitely has the look and feel of an Ayckbourn play - and is similarly extremely funny. Like Ayckbourn it is accessible and entertaining while gradually revealing its deeper, darker themes. There was a great central performance from Harish Patel as the comical patriarch, and a wonderful set showing a dolls-house cross-section of his two-up, two-down.

About Me

Since September 2005 Robin Simpson has been Chief Executive of Voluntary Arts, which provides a universal voice for approximately 63,000 voluntary arts groups, across the UK and Ireland, involving more than 10 million participants in creative cultural activities. A keen amateur French horn player, Robin is currently a member of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. Robin is a perennial ballroom dancing student, a frequent theatre-goer, an enthusiastic reader of contemporary fiction, an insatiable consumer of classical and world music and a keen blogger at www.culturalplayingfield.org and www.culturaldessert.blogspot.com